DATE=10/27/98 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10978 TITLE=DOCTOR'S KILLING INTENSIFIES ABORTION DEBATE BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= ///// SERVICES SHOULD NOTE THE CONTENT OF THIS U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. ///// INTRO: THE SNIPER KILLING OF AN OBSTETRICIAN AND GYNECOLOGIST WHO PERFORMED ABORTIONS AMONG HIS MANY OTHER TREATMENTS, HAS ONCE AGAIN PLACED THE ISSUE OF TERMINATING PREGNANCY IN THE FOREFRONT OF MANY U-S EDITORIALS. WE GET A SAMPLING NOW FROM _______________ WHO JOINS US WITH TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: ABORTION IS ONE OF THE MOST CONTENTIOUS SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY, AND HAS CAUSED HEATED DEBATES AND A GOOD DEAL OF VIOLENCE AS THE OPPONENTS AND PROPONENTS BATTLE OVER IT. SINCE THE 1973 SUPREME COURT DECISION "ROE VERSUS WADE", ABORTION DURING THE FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY, THAT IS THE FIRST THREE MONTHS, HAS BEEN LEGAL. THE COURT SAID STATES MAY REGULATE ABORTIONS DURING THE SECOND THREE-MONTHS OF PREGNANCY FOR REASON'S OF WOMEN'S HEALTH. THAT COURT DECISION SET OFF A SOCIAL DEBATE THAT HAS RAGED EVER SINCE, AND HAS GIVEN RISE TO THOUSANDS OF ANGRY DEMONSTRATIONS AT ABORTION CLINICS. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN ATTACKS AND BOMBINGS OF CLINICS, AND SINCE 1993 SEVEN DOCTORS OR CLINIC EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN MURDERED. THE LATEST KILLING OCCURRED FRIDAY [10/23] IN A BUFFALO SUBURB, WHEN DOCTOR BARNETT SLEPIAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY A SNIPER WHO FIRED THROUGH THE KITCHEN WINDOW OF HIS HOME. IT WAS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF ATTACKS, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE NEARBY U-S/CANADIAN BORDER, THAT HAVE OCCURRED FOR SEVERAL YEARS AROUND THE 11TH OF NOVEMBER, WHICH HAS BECOME A DAY OF ANTI-ABORTION PROTEST. IN THE EDITORIAL COLUMNS, THERE IS UNIVERSAL CONDEMNATION FOR THIS LATEST KILLING, AS IN THIS COMMENT FROM "THE OREGONIAN" IN PORTLAND. VOICE: MAINSTREAM RELIGIONS AND RESPONSIBLE ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS WERE RIGHT TO CONDEMN THE VICIOUS MURDER ... AS [DOCTOR] SLEPIAN WAS BURIED ON MONDAY ... ANY NUMBER OF ISSUES REMAIN UNRESOLVED. MOST IMPORTANT, FOR THE MOMENT, IS WHETHER THIS KILLING IS THE RESULT OF A CONSPIRACY OF TERRORISTS OR THE WORK OF A SINGLE, UNHINGED FANATIC. A LARGER, MORE COMPLICATED ONE IS THIS: WHAT EFFECT DOES TERROR HAVE ON THE ABORTION DEBATE? TEXT: ON NEW YORK'S LONG ISLAND, "NEWSDAY" SAYS IN ITS HEADLINE -- THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THE MURDER BY A FANATIC OF A LAW-ABIDING PHYSICIAN. VOICE: FOR A QUARTER-CENTURY, THE RIGHT OF AMERICAN WOMEN TO TERMINATE UNWANTED PREGNANCIES HAS BEEN CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED BY THE SUPREME COURT. SURVEYS SHOW THAT A SUBSTANTIAL MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SUPPORT THAT RIGHT, THOUGH NOT NECESSARILY WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS. AND COMPARATIVELY FEW OF THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE RIGHT TO ABORTION MAKE THE SICKENING LEAP TO ADVOCATING VIOLENCE TO PREVENT WOMEN FROM EXERCISING IT. BUT THE VIOLENT ONES -- THE ABORTION VIGILANTES -- CLAIMED ANOTHER VICTIM THIS PAST WEEKEND. FOR THE FIFTH TIME IN FOUR-YEARS, AN ABORTION PROVIDER IN UPSTATE NEW YORK OR CANADA WAS SHOT AT BY AN UNIDENTIFIED SNIPER THROUGH A REAR WINDOW OF HIS HOME. ... TO ANYONE BUT A FANATIC, THE WORD FOR THIS IS NOT JUSTICE, NOT EVEN RETRIBUTION; IT IS TERRORISM. THESE PEOPLE HAVE ARROGATED TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT TO MURDER THE LAW-ABIDING IN DEFENSE OF THE UNBORN. AND THE DESTRUCTION THEY WREAK SPREADS FAR BEYOND THEIR INDIVIDUAL VICTIMS AND CORRODES THE SOCIAL ORDER ITSELF. TEXT: "THE NEW YORK TIMES" IS ALSO OUTRAGED, AND POINTS OUT THE ATTACK AGAINST WOMEN WANTING TO TERMINATE THEIR PREGNANCIES IS BEING WAGED ON MORE THAN ONE FRONT. VOICE: IT IS BAD ENOUGH THAT CONSERVATIVES IN CONGRESS AND IN STATE LEGISLATURES ARE WORKING TO DISMANTLE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS BY BANNING CERTAIN PROCEDURES, SUCH AS SO-CALLED PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION, AND BY REQUIRING WAITING PERIODS AND PARENTAL CONSENT BEFORE AN ABORTION CAN BE OBTAINED. BUT THOSE RESTRICTIONS ARE AT LEAST IMPOSED BY THE NORMAL GIVE AND TAKE OF POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL STRUGGLE IN A DEMOCRACY. WHAT IS OUTRAGEOUS IS THE ATTEMPT TO SHUT DOWN ABORTIONS BY ILLEGAL MEANS -- BY SHOOTING THE DOCTORS OR BOMBING THE CLINICS OR HARASSING THE WOMEN SEEKING TO EXERCISE THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. ... THE INCREASE OF ... CAMPAIGNS OF HARASSMENT BY PROTEST GROUPS, EVEN SHORT OF MURDER, HAVE WORKED TO MAKE ABORTIONS HARDER TO OBTAIN. MORE THAN 80-PERCENT OF COUNTIES IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE NO ABORTION PROVIDER. TEXT: IN THE PACIFIC, "THE HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN" SUGGESTS THE ATTACKS MAY ALL BE THE WORK OF ONE MAN WHOM, THE PAPER URGES -- MUST BE FOUND. VOICE: IN EACH CASE, BULLETS WERE FIRED THROUGH WINDOWS OF THE PHYSICIANS' HOMES. IN THE PREVIOUS SHOOTINGS, THREE CANADIAN DOCTORS AND ONE NEAR ROCHESTER, NEW YORK WERE WOUNDED BY A SNIPER. ... NEW YORK GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI, CALLING FOR THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THE KILLER, SAID 'IT IS BEYOND A TRAGEDY. IT IS REALLY AN ACT OF TERRORISM AND, IN MY MIND, A COLD-BLOODED ASSASSINATION.' NO REASONABLE PERSON COULD DISAGREE WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON'S STATEMENT THAT 'THE NATION CANNOT TOLERATE VIOLENCE DIRECTED AT THOSE PROVIDING A CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED MEDICAL SERVICE." ... EVERY EFFORT MUST BE MADE TO APPREHEND THE KILLER. TEXT: BACK ON THE MAINLAND, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES" SAYS: VOICE: BY NO STRETCH CAN THIS REIGN OF VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION BE CALLED LEGITIMATE PROTEST BY THOSE WHO OPPOSE A WOMEN'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO TERMINATE A PREGNANCY. THIS VIOLENCE SHOULD BE SEEN FOR WHAT IT IS, AN EFFORT TO SUBVERT OUR SYSTEM OF LAWS. TEXT: AND LASTLY, "THE WASHINGTON POST" OPINES: VOICE: FEW IN THE MAINSTREAM ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT DISPUTE THAT THE DRIVE TO REVERSE ROE VERSUS WADE AND MAKE ABORTION ILLEGAL -- EVEN, AS THEY WOULD ARGUE, TO SAVE INNOCENT LIVES -- BECOMES A VICIOUS PARODY OF ITSELF WHEN PURSUED THROUGH THE TAKING OF LIFE. TEXT: ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL CONUNDRUM, WE CONCLUDE OUR EDITORIAL SAMPLING. NEB/ANG/RAE 27-Oct-98 2:45 PM EST (1945 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .